Review: Atari Greatest Hits Volume 1 for Nintendo DS

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Compilations of classic arcade and console games have been a recurring theme for the past few years. I think they really started to become popular with publishers when the PlayStation 2 was established, and that carried over to the current generation consoles where they could be resold with updated graphics.

While we all like to relive our childhoods playing these usually very hard games, there are issues with doing so on a console. The main problem is these games were meant for standard definition TVs no bigger than 32-inches, and in most cases much smaller non-widescreen displays. The result today on a 40-inch HD TV with a PS3 or Xbox 360 attached is something that looks really dated, yet still requires loading time for the console to handle the 20+ year-old graphics. Add to that the limited number of games supplied on a 25GB Blu-ray disc or DVD, and you are left feeling a bit short-changed.

Generally the experience is therefore not always pleasant and I bet many gamers don’t even consider picking up yet another compilation title. And who could blame them? There’s usually game overlap between discs, the navigation from game to game is cumbersome, and the play time of the really old games too short to warrant the time to load them.

With this latest compilation Atari is taking a different approach. As it’s on DS there are no load times and no HD screens to contend with. The decision was also taken to not ship a handful of games, instead Atari Greatest Hits Volume 1 has 50 games. That’s a serious amount of titles on one cartridge for less than $30. You really can’t complain about the value aspect.

The 50 games are split between Atari arcade and Atari 2600 titles, with most falling into the 2600 category. With the arcade games you get a screen giving you simple and arcade control options as well as a short summary of what you are expected to do. For the 2600 games there are more options on offer including game mode selection and the option to play as if on a black and white TV.

Here’s the complete list of games you will have access to:

Arcade Titles

Asteroids

Battlezone

Centipede

Gravitar

Lunar Lander

Missile Command

Pong

Space Duel

Tempest

Atari 2600 Titles

3D Tic-Tac-Toe

Adventure

Air-Sea Battle

Asteroids

Atari Video Cube

Basketball

Battlezone

Bowling

Centipede

Championship Soccer

Dodge ’Em

Flag Capture

Football

Fun with Numbers

Gravitar

Hangman

Haunted House

Home Run

Human Cannonball

Math Gran Prix

Miniature Golf

Missile Command

Outlaw

Realsports Baseball

Realsports Boxing

Realsports Football

Realsports Tennis

Realsports Volleyball

Sky Diver

Slot Maching

Slot Racers

Sprintmasters

Starship

Stella Track

Submarine Commander

Surround

Swordquest Earthworld

Swordquest Fireworld

Swordquest Waterworld

Tempest

Video Checkers

It’s important to stress these are the original games. Developer Code Mystics has done nothing to improve the graphics or simplify the gameplay beyond offering alternative control options. But that’s how a greatest hits collection should be–the original games untouched.

While some of these games are a reminder of how poor classic gaming could be, there are some gems in there you’ll remember if you’re old enough. But then again, there’s some missing you’d expect to find in a first volume of Atari classics. Where’s Space Invaders, Pac-Man, Kaboom!, River Raid, Pitfall or E.T.?

Overall the DS forms the perfect platform for these collections of games. There are no load times and the size of the games make everything pop-up instantly. Not enjoying the game you are playing? A couple of button presses and a handful of seconds later you are engrossed in another. There’s also no HD screens to output to so the graphics look fine without any kind of refresh being required by the developer. Atari tops off the package by including so many games. You are spoilt for choice with titles in the categories of

Action

Adventure

Arcade at Home

Gambling

Mind Games

Racing

Space

Sports

There is something for everyone in there.

As well as the games you’ll find an option on the main menu called Extras. In there is a Trivia Game, Arcade gallery, Atari 2600 manuals, Army Battlezone, and the Credits for the game. The trivia game will test your knowledge and a highscore can be posted on Atari.com by supplying an e-mail address. The arcade gallery is full of images for a number of game showing off posters, promotional adverts, and artwork. The only problem with that is the large posters are split across the two screens detracting from them slightly. One of the real gems in this collection is the Atari 2600 manuals. You get the full manual for each game giving you the back story, gameplay description, game options, and control hints. It’s really nice to have these made available in their original layouts.

The name Army Battlezone may be familiar to some Atari fans as it was the title used for the trainer the U.S. Army commissioned. It was used to help train gunners of the Bradley Fighting Vehicle and is based on Battlezone. According to Code Mystics this is the first time it has ever been released for gamers to experience first hand. You can play the game via the extras menu and it just rounds out a great selection of additional material while taking the actual game count up to 51 on the cartridge.

Atari hasn’t forgotten about multiplayer gaming either. Arcade games Space Duel and Pong, along with 20 of the 2600 titles have single-card multiplayer as an option. Multi-card multiplayer also features. This ups the value again as you can buy one copy of the game and play 20 games with friends who have a DS.

Overall Atari has done a great job here, deciding not to touch the original games and instead finding the best platform to release them on. They should also be commended for including so many titles on this single cartridge. And there’s a volume 2 set to appear next year hopefully with another 50 games including those we highlighted above as missing from volume 1.

If you’re a fan of retro gaming, or want to try some old games and don’t know where to start, you could do a lot worse than pick up Atari Greatest Hits Volume 1.

The copy of Atari Greatest Hits Volume 1 used for this review was supplied by Atari.